3/12/2005

Shopping etiquette

I braved Wal-Mart this afternoon with my two young boys. I usually go about 7am and leave the two youngest with their older brother to sleep in, but I didn't get up in time this morning so we all had to make the trip.

It was about 3pm when we got to the superstore overly full parkinglot. I dreaded going in, but we were out of almost everything.

Suprisingly enough there were 3 baskets left when we got in the doors, so I grabbed one and headed in. The door greeters were there and this lady stopped right in the middle of the door entry way to talk to them. She was just chit chatting, not returning anything. So, we wait. Well, 3 year olds don't wait that well and he took off thru the crowd so I had to say excuse me about 800 times as I pushed my way thru the crowd trying to catch him.

After finally getting in the store we make a right and start in the Health and Beauty Aids. First turn is the shaving isle. Why do they stock the shelves with baskets on a Saturday Afternoon???? This wal-mart employee had two baskets full of stuff she was putting on the top shelf, the over stock shelf. She was taking up half of the isle not to mention 2 needed baskets. There are two baskets behind me trying to get down the isle and one trying to come the other way. I pull over so the opposite lady can get thru and the man behind me pushes by and hits my basket and almost runs over my 7 year old and then hits the basket of the other lady. Then, he stops right in the middle and leaves his basket goes and starts looking at razors. I think he did it just to be irritating cause he didn't get anything after we some how got the cluster fixed he just walked off. I so wanted to be a rude man at that moment and go up and punch him in the mouth. But instead, I just said to my boys "that was rather rude, don't you think".

We start around the corner at the back isle the one with the female products and there is another basket in the middle of the road but this one with out a driver. So, I causally look around for a few, but we really need to keep going. So, I move the basket over a little bit and she comes out of another isle and yells at me "Don't take my Basket". I apologized and told her I just need to get by. She gave me this go to hell look so I just shrugged my shoulders and kept going. If I had been her in the same situation I would of apologized to the other person for leaving my basket unattended.

Isn't there a book of shopping etiquette? Or maybe just a quick mandantory class in manners?? Is it more fun to be rude and inconsiderate?